Herbert's Dummy Run
Platform: ZX Spectrum
Region: UK
Media: Snapshot
Controller: Kempston, Interface 2 and Keyboard
Genre: Action - Adventure
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1985
Developer: Mikro-Gen Ltd
Publisher: Mikro-Gen Ltd
Players: 1
Programmer: David Perry
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Now you should all remember Herbert. He’s the little chap from the Week family whose ineptitude became world renowned in Everyone’s a Wally. In this game Herbert has become separated from his Mum and Dad during a visit to the local department store. It is up to you, the player to guide him back to his parents who are waiting for him in the ‘LOST AND FOUND’ department.

The game begins with Herbert in the toy department at 1 pm: the store closes at 5.30 and you have four and a half hours to reunite Herbert with his parentals, since the game is played in real time. In both style and presentation Herbert’s Dummy Run is similar to Everyone’s a Wally, which is not surprising as it’s the third game in the Wally trilogy! Dummy Run is a graphical adventure game that calls for a high degree of arcade skill as well as a degree of lateral thinking. The opening screen is typical of the game: Herbert finds himself standing on a box in the toy department; you notice at the top of the screen a series of shelves loaded with a wide variety of toys. How can Herbert reach up there? Well of course the box he’s standing on is a Jack-in-the-box, and when the key has been fetched the spring action will propel him up onto the shelf.

As with the other Wally games, many of the screens take the form of well known arcade games. One screen can only be solved by dismantling a wall, ‘Breakout’ style — if you manage this the resultant pat on the head is well deserved.

The game would be too easy if you could pick up and carry every object that you came across. Only being able to carry two objects at a time forces you to do a little forward thinking. At the top of the screen you are reminded of what objects are in your possession — the one that you have had for the longest is automatically exchanged for another ‘collectable’ piece as you walk past it. As you explore the store looking for the ways and means to solve the game you are under constant pressure from a wide variety of mobile ‘thingies’. You have three lives and when you come into contact with some of the nasties your energy, shown by a large tear that fills up, will be reduced until you escape the meanies, or lose that life. A few mobiles kill immediately on contact so you will have to learn to identify them quickly. You are able to reverse the drain on your energy by eating the sweets found scattered around the store.

For his efforts, Herbert is rewarded with his favourite jelly babies, and the closer he is to finding his parents the more he will get. All told the game extends for over twenty-five screens, but don’t expect Herbert to get fat on jelly babies too soon!


Review – Crash 18, July 1985 (Scores 90%) - http://www.crashonline.org.uk/18/dummy_run.htm
